'Regulation' No Longer a Dirty Word in DC

Wall St. woes, toy and food scares have pols of all stripes on board
By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 24, 2008 11:38 AM CDT
'Regulation' No Longer a Dirty Word in DC
Ronald Reagan helped to inaugurate the idea that any regulation of business is bad for the economy. (PRNewsFoto/Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation)   (AP Photo)

"Regulation" is becoming less of a dirty word in Washington in the wake of the mortgage meltdown, woes on Wall Street, and scares over tainted food and toys. Many Democrats and even some Republicans want a shift from voluntary industry standards in vogue since the Reagan administration. "We're in for a potentially significant regulatory response," one economist tells the Wall Street Journal.

When Congress gets back from its recess, it is expected to start work on an overhaul of the financial regulatory system. And a House committee wants to give food and pharmaceutical regulating agencies new power after a series of huge recalls of contaminated food. Meanwhile, all three presidential candidates have shown willingness to strengthen regulation. (More regulation stories.)

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